New hood hinges: sagging hood

[afterglow]

I replaced the hood hinges on my 69 Mach 1 since the old ones were worn out. However, the new ones aren't doing a good job in holding the hood up!! There's not enough room to stick my head under there. Instead of the 45 degree angle that seems to be the norm for Mustang hoods, my hinges can only hold the hood at less than 30 degrees. Also, the hinge springs are loose and can be easily moved when the hood is open. I tried moving the hinge spring on a 66 with original hood hinges and they wouldn't budge.

It seems to me the ultimate solution would be to either replace the hinge springs with something stronger or shorten the hinge springs so that it actually has some tension. Easier said than done though....

Any ideas??

 

[chromedog]

i am assuming these are repop hinges... can you swap the springs from the old hinges?

 

[afterglow]

Theoretically, I could but as I said it's easier said than done. The original springs are on pretty tight and taking them off will mean straightening them out which will weaken them.

I was kidding around with the paint guy yesterday and we said the easy way would be to mount a winch on the roof and just raise it up that way. IOW, we were both stumped...

 

[chromedog]

as far as stretching the tension out of them,how much tension do you think are on those springs when the hood is closed? ive removed the springs from hood hinges more than once,its no big deal...push the hinges as far past up as you can,and pop them off.

 

[afterglow]

its no big deal...push the hinges as far past up as you can,and pop them off.

Hmmm....let me try that then. Now I just need to go look for my old hood hinges.....

 

[67 Evil Eleanor]

I had bad luck with the repops. Mine was an height issue once the hood was closed (would not close all the way). After removing the new hinges and looseing them up, I was surprised at the slack they had. Much more that my old originals. The new ones were crap. You may want to see if you have the right springs, they can easily be removed with a screwdriver when collasped. If you can't, they may be the wrong spring or the wrong hinge. The 5-6's are different than the 69's.

 

[afterglow]

I'm going to go to the shed to check what shape the old hood hinge springs are in (or if I can even find the damned things). If they're not usable (of if I can't find em), would anyone know if the replacement springs being sold are better than the POS I have now?? Would anyone have a source for good springs??

 

[NasaGT]

I bought new hinges and springs for my 69 about a month ago from NPD. It was rather difficult to get the new springs on the hinges, but they hold up the hood quite well.

They also carried springs with less tension for cars with fiberglass hoods.It could be that you were given the wrong set of springs with your new hinges.